Letters

“As I have a Spectrum +, Interface One, two Microdrives, Beta Plus DDI (with Amdek III), a working 2050 attached, a rather large assortment of Spectrum software and subscriptions to 4 UK Spectrum-dedicated magazines, I tend to regard myself to be a Spectrum buff. Therefore, I would like to offer this selection of my favorite 1985 Spectrum favorites. The following programs are not in a specific order, they are all great.”

 1. Artworx (Novelsoft/Zebra)
 2. Fairlight (The Edge)
 3. Tomahawk (Digital Integration)
 4. Beta Basic 3.0 (BetaSoft)
 5. Music Typewriter (Romantic Robot)
 6. Dun Darach (Gargoyle Games)
 7. Monopoly (Leisure Genius)
 8. Everyone's A Wally (Mikro-Gen)
 9. Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Ocean)
10. Astronomy II (CP Software)

Ian F. Robertson
Islington, Ontario
Canada

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Dear Sir:

“I’ve just read your response to Byron DeFries on page 3 of the March/April issue. There may be a bit more of a problem than you mention. You are right about the frequency difference (50 vs 60Hz) but that is minor, and most self-respecting transformers are specced from 47 to 63 Hz to cover it. The need for a new transformer (or adaptor) arises because the British line runs about 230 VAC compared to our 117.

The big problem I forsee is that the British television uses a different scan pattern and frequency from the American one…625 lines by 50 frames. Also, without checking, the channel frequencies may be different. Thus plugging into a British TV won’t work. Using a video monitor obtained in the U.K. may have a similar problem. Here, the monitors follow the U.S. 525 line 60 frame television pattern. (One likes to make the frame rate the same as the line frequency to reduce the demand for power filtering and isolation.) If the UK video monitor follows their TV standards, the 2068 won’t work through that device without modifications either. Now, I haven’t torn into my 2068 and looked, but it’s possible that there’s a jumper change that will adapt the machine for the British (or other European) standards.”

David Mc Lanahan
Marlow, NH

EDITOR: Or, Mr. DeFries could try to hook-up his 2068 to a Sinclair Pocket TV. It’s compatible with both British and American standards. I understand someone has accomplished this successfully…although they are wearing thicker lenses now.

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“I purchased an FD-68 Disk Drive I/F from AERCO in December, 1985. The system disk they sent me was unreadable, and it was returned to them in December for a replacement. I waited very patiently until the first of February, at which time I decided to call them (perhaps they had not received my letter?).

I spoke to a Phil [at AERCO], and was very upset by his attitude. I was advised that he had been busy doing ‘other more profitable projects’ and that he really did not want the Timex business. I was quite upset. After speaking with Rod Gowen of RMG Enterprises [an AERCO dealer in my area], I was advised to speak to Jerry at AERCO…

The first of March I was again on the phone to AERCO. This time I was able to speak to Jerry, who was very accommodating. Jerry apologized and sent a new disk out the same day, Air Express. Unfortunately, it was also unreadable.

I then spoke to Jerry again. He shipped me a 5.25″ disk drive and disk, set up as drive C, for me to make my own copy. This was also sent Air Express! I ended up getting a copy from Jack Dohany, a programmer in California, and did not need to use the drives sent to me by AERCO. However, their efforts were extraordinary.

I am writing [this letter], as I was very vocal about poor service and attitude, and aware of others having the same problem, as evidenced in our recent user group newsletter. However, I cannot say enough good things about how I was treated by Jerry. I therefore conclude that AERCO is really concerned about our business as well as servicing us after the fact. I would however suggest anyone who has a problem with AERCO should talk to Jerry…not Phil!

Unfortunately, a ‘comedy of errors’ such as I experienced can ruin a company’s reputation. I have purchased other AERCO products in the past and will do so again. I felt after all my complaining, I should tell the whole story. Especially, the happy ending.

I hope you chose to publish this as I feel we owe the companies supporting our computers some good words. It always seems easy to criticize, yet hard to praise.”

Syd Wyncoop
Portland, OR

EDITOR: Your last sentence hit the “bullseye”. As a consumer, there seems to be no excuse for poor sevice and (gasp) mistakes. But as a small business owner, I know what goes on “behind the scenes”. Often just a couple of employees are wearing the hats of several dozen workers. The word “busy” is an understatement! I feel that the majority of our T/S vendors take customer satisfaction seriously. If not, I don’t think they would be doing business for long…but remember, we all mess up once in awhile.

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“I have found the Burglar Alarm program in the last [March/April] issue of TDM to be a useful addition to my TS 2068. However, I have found one problem. Generally speaking, when the program is loaded with the loop closed, the joystick port appears to be stuck in the 1’s position (pin 1 to pin 8 closure). The program fails to recognize when an open occurs. If the program is loaded with the loop open, the system functions correctly. This situation may be unique to my own computer. However, I suspect that this is a flaw in the software.

The problem is that the closed loop indicator that is written into Register 14 of the PSG during the load procedure, cannot be cleared when the loop is later opened. The solution is to either load the circuit with the loop open, or clear Register 14 when the program is executed. I chose the latter solution. In the enclosed program(s), line 35 is used to call the machine code routine that clears Register 14 of the PSG. Line 15 calls the routine that POKE’s the routine into high memory (lines 200-250). I have also shown the mnemonic listing of the machine code routine. Addresses FFE0 through FFE6 enable Register 7 of the PSG and set bit 6 in the register. Setting bit 6 in Register 7 enables I/O Port A (Register 14) of the PSG for output. Addresses FFE8 through FFED enables and zeros Register 14 of the PSG. The remainder of the routine re-addresses Register 7 and clears bit 6. This re-enables I/O Port A (Register 14) of the PSG for input.

I have shown two versions of the program. The short program is a modified version of the program on page 20 of the March/April issue of TDM. The long program is an auto-loading, user-friendly version. This version is designed so that my wife and children can easily load and use the program. The last attachment provides a summary of my findings. If other readers have had a similar experiences with the program, perhaps this information will be useful.”

Guil R. Taylor
Baltimore, OH

SAVE   | LOAD   | WITH     | WITHOUT
WITH   | WITH   | MACHINE  | MACHINE
LOOP   | LOOP   | CODE     | CODE
-------+--------+----------+------------------------------------
open   | open   | ok       | ok most of the time - but unreliable
open   | closed | ok       | fails to recognize open loop
closed | open   | ok       | ok
closed | closed | ok       | fails to recognize open loop

Magazine Version

  10 REM Time Designs Mar/Apr 86
  15 GO SUB 200
  20 INPUT "Hit (ENTER) to activate alarm";a$
  30 PRINT "You have 30 seconds to leave."
  35 RANDOMIZE USR 65504
  40 PAUSE 1800
  50 IF STICK (1,2)=1 THEN GO TO 50
  60 PAUSE 1800: REM 30 second entrance time
  70 FOR x=1 TO 5
  80 FOR y=1 TO 300
  90 BEEP .1,20: BEEP .1,30
 100 NEXT y: NEXT x
 110 GO TO 50: REM Resets alarm after 5 minutes
 200 FOR i=65504 TO 65526
 210 READ x: POKE i,x
 220 NEXT i
 230 RETURN
 240 DATA 62,7,211,245,62,64,211,246,62,14,211,245,175,211,246,62,7,211,245,175,211,246,201

ADDR HEXCODE LABEL MNEMONIC
===========================
FFE0 3E07          LD A,07
FFE2 D3F5          OUT (F5),A
FFE4 3E40          LD A,40
FFE6 D3F6          OUT (F6),A
FFE8 3E0E          LD A,0E
FFEA D3F5          OUT (F5),A
FFEC AF            XOR A
FFED D3F6          OUT (F6),A
FFEF 3E07          LD A,07
FFF1 D3F5          OUT (F5),A
FFF3 AF            XOR A
FFF4 D3F6          OUT (F6),A
FFF6 C9            RET

User Friendly Version

  10 REM Time Designs Mar/Apr 86
  15 GO SUB 200
  20 INPUT "Hit (ENTER) to activate alarm";a$
  30 PRINT "You have 30 seconds to leave."
  35 RANDOMIZE USR 65504
  40 PAUSE 1800
  45 CLS : PRINT FLASH 1; PAPER 6;AT 10,10;"ALARMS ACTIVE"
  50 IF STICK (1,2)=1 THEN GO TO 50
  55 CLS : PRINT FLASH 1; PAPER 2; INK 7;AT 10,10;"CIRCUIT OPEN"
  56 PRINT AT 12,0;"Press any key to deactivate      alarm!!"
  57 IF INKEY$<>"" THEN GO TO 120
  60 PAUSE 1800: REM 30 second entrance time
  70 FOR x=1 TO 5
  80 FOR y=1 TO 300
  85 IF INKEY$<>"" THEN GO TO 120
  90 BEEP .1,20: BEEP .1,30
 100 NEXT y: NEXT x
 110 GO TO 45: REM Resets alarm after 5 minutes
 120 CLS : PRINT PAPER 6;AT 10,0;"Do you want to reactivate the     alarm system?     "; FLASH 1;"(Y or N)"; FLASH 0;"    ": PAUSE 0
 130 IF INKEY$<>"Y" AND INKEY$<>"y" AND INKEY$<>"N" AND INKEY$<>"n" THEN GO TO 120
 140 IF INKEY$="Y" OR INKEY$="y" THEN RUN
 150 CLS : PRINT PAPER 1; INK 7,AT 10,0;"Press RUN & ENTER to reactivate the alarm system. "; PAPER 2;"     "; FLASH 1;"BYE!!"; FLASH 0;"    "
 160 STOP
 200 FOR i=65504 TO 65526
 210 READ x: POKE i,x
 220 NEXT i
 230 RETURN
 240 DATA 62,7,211,245,62,64,211,246,62,14,211,245,175,211,246,62,7,211,245,175,211,246,201
 250 STOP
 260 SAVE "alarm" LINE 10